Once staunchly anti-CCSVI reseachers are now beginning to admit there may be something to Dr. Zamboni's theory. One such researcher is Dr. Massimo Fillipi. Dr. Filippi is one of the most published MS specialists. Dr. Filippi was a co-author of the very first aggressively negative article written in the Annals of Neurology in February 2010-- co-authored by Dr. Omar Khan and Dr. Mark Freedman. From that paper-
Several well-known features of MS, including the autoimmune nature of the disease involving complex T- and B-cell–mediated responses, challenge CCSVI as the etiology of MS or as contributing to the disease patho- physiology.
link to full paper
(Note---this t and b cell response is now being noted in stroke, and is not necessarily a sign of an autoimmune disease, but rather a breech in the blood brain barrier. From recent research:
The roles of lymphocytes are generally intended to play a negative role in ischemic brain pathogenesis. T- and B-cells have been identified by immunohistochemistry in post-ischemic brain and localized to infarction boundary zones, close to blood vessels (Jablonska et al. 2010, Stevens et al. 2002). )
http://www.ane.pl/pdf/7107.pdf
As more and more evidence illucidates the connection between the vascular system and MS, researchers are delicately back-pedaling from their once resolute call that "MS is most certainly NOT vascular, it's autoimmune!" to "MS may very well have a vascular component." And it is happening in neurological medical journals.
Last month, a group of researchers looked at what MS and vascular disease share---namely the risk of ischemic stroke, hypoperfusion (or slowed blood flow thru the brain) and ischemic damage to the brain in the form of white matter lesions and gray matter loss. Here is the note where I go through the entire review which was published in The Lancet:
link to note
This month, Dr. Filippi comments on that review in The Lancet and gives it high praise. He agrees that there are several issues connecting MS to the vascular system. I purchased the whole "paper" (32 bucks for one and a half pages....yeesh) and while it is not anything we do not know on this forum, and it is certainly not earth-shattering, it is a change in course for Dr. Filippi. (If you want to buy it, here's the link, but it's not really worth it)
link to abstract
Here is a comment that caught my eye--
For instance, in a combined perfusion and diffusion MRI study, there was an association between decreased perfusion and decreased mean diffusivity—a measure of tissue integrity—in the corpus callosum of patients with relapsing-remitting MS.7 This finding seems to be more consistent with what would be expected in primary ischaemia rather than as a result of secondary hypoperfusion associated with Wallerian degeneration.
Translation: the brain changes in MS look like what happens in those with a primary vascular injury.
What does this mean to us, as pwMS and those that love them? As people wanting more research into CCSVI and treatment trials NOW? It means that the evidence of CCSVI and the vascular connection to MS is coming in from around the world, and these guys are going to make their comments and reviews so they can be on the right side of history. We've come a long way from the days of "It's a hoax!" from Dr. Freedman. Now it's "very possible that MS has a vascular component" from his co-author, Dr. Filippi. This is huge. Of course, Dr. Filippi makes statements regarding the need for more research, and the importance of clinical trials, and the unknown etiology of MS. (I can guarantee he won't be participating in the CCSVI clinical trials he requests. He has to please his current employers.)
Massimo Filippi has received honoraria for lectures, travel expenses, and consulting fees as an investigator in previous and present treatment trials from Teva, Merck-Serono, Bayer, Biogen-Dompé, Genmab, and Pepgen.
we are witnessing very interesting times, indeed.
Joan
